As a designated “Centre of Excellence” (CoE) by the Ministry of Urban Development (GOI), under the “Capacity Building of Urban Local Bodies” (CBULB) scheme in the area of sustainable water management- The Calendar of CoE deliverables (2014-15) has been finalised. The attached calendar showcases training programmes, seminars / workshops and exposure visits under the following new key themes: (1) Septage Management (2) Urban Lake Management (3) Water Sensitive Design and Planning (4) Green Infrastructure and (5) Water Efficiency and Conservation.

We discovered this by sheer chance, buried in the website of the Union Ministry of Shipping Road Transport and Highways. This is a public notice soliciting public opinion on the unfinished agenda of the emissions standards roadmap finalised way back in 2003. This seeks Euro IV standards in 11 cities and Euro III in the rest of the country by 2010. But this notification was not given adequate publicity in the popular media. It is not even aiming to stir a public debate and animated scientific discussion.

The research as a part of COE activity at CSE includes policy research on decentralized wastewater management (DWWT), rainwater harvesting (RWH) and water efficiency(see presentation). As a part of CoE mandate, CSE has prepared and submitted various reports and policy papers in the area of sustainable water management to Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD).

CSE as a CoE also functions as knowledge centre for Sustainable Water Management, wherein it collates and disseminate information related to urban water management through its website. CSE’s website has dedicated interactive online information on water management and in particular CoE activities like RWH, DWWT and water efficiency.Also, other CSE’s websites like India Environmental Portal, Down to Earth, rainwater harvesting widely cover issues related to the above activities on a regular basis.